Brett Divers is the Managing Partner and one of the founding shareholders of the firm.  His practice is primarily devoted to complex commercial litigation, including business disputes, construction, fidelity and surety matters, professional liability, and appeals. 

Brett’s business litigation experience has involved a variety of business-related disputes.  These disputes have dealt with complex construction, surety,  fidelity, and construction defect matters, business torts, violations of restrictive covenants and non-compete clauses, whistleblower claims, banking issues, and the dissolution of corporations and partnerships.

Brett is certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Circuit Mediator and brings to the table more than 30 years of handling and resolving a variety of business litigation matters when he serves as the mediator. He also serves as an arbitrator in select business and construction-related litigation cases.

My Mediation Calendar

A lifelong resident of Tampa, Brett is active in several civic, charitable, and social organizations.      

Professional, Trade, and Philanthropic Affiliations

• American Bar Association
• Tort and Insurance Practice Section
• Fidelity and Surety Law Committee
  • Chair (2018 - 2019)
  • Secretary (2015 - 2019)
  • Vice-Chair (2002 - 2014)
• Litigation Section
• Forum on the Construction Industry
• The Florida Bar
  • Trial Lawyers Section
• The Fidelity Law Association
  • Advisor
• The Hillsborough County Bar Foundation
  • Director (2019 - 2022)
• The Hillsborough County Bar Association
  • Trial Lawyers Section
  • Construction Law Section
• National Bond Claims Association
  • Program Chair (2022 to present)
• Gulfcoast Fidelity and Surety Institute
• Dartmouth Lawyers Association

Selected Honors & Recognitions

• Best Lawyers in America: Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Insurance Law, and Litigation - Construction (since 2016)
  • Lawyer of the Year - Construction Litigation (2019)
• Florida Trend’s “Florida Legal Elite” (since 2004)
  
  • Selected to the Hall of Fame in 2013 
• Law & Politics – SuperLawyers (since 2006)
• American Lawyer Media and Martindale Hubbell 2015 Top Rated Litigator
• Martindale-Hubbell, AV Rated
• “Top Construction Lawyer,” Tampa Magazine (2016, 2024)
• Repeatedly named as one of "Tampa's Top Rated Lawyers" by Legal Leaders Magazine
• American Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Berkeley Preparatory School Alumni Achievement Award Recipient (2012)

Selected Publications

• Co-Author, Chapter VII, "The Indemnity Agreement and the Handling of Surety Claims," in The Surety's Indemnity Agreement (3d Ed. 2023).

• The Surety's Rx for COVID-19: Are you Ready? (Webinar, May 2020).

• Chapter 6, “The Surety's Recourse Against Its Principal and Indemnitor,” in Managing and Litigation the Complex Surety Case, (3d Ed. 2018). 

• Chapter 3, “The Rights to Which the Contract Bond Surety is Subrogated,” in The Contract Bond Surety’s Subrogation Rights (2013).
  
  
• Co-Author, Chapter 2, “Who is Entitled to Recover,” in The Law of Payment Bonds (2d Ed. 2011).
  
  
• Co-Author, Chapter VII, “The Indemnity Agreement and the Handling of Surety Claims,” in The Surety’s Indemnity Agreement (2d Ed. 2008).

Selected Speaking Engagements 

• "Investigation/Completion Options: Takeover - How Do You Decide?" ABA/TIPS Mid-Winter Meeting, January, 2022 (Nashville, TN).

• “The Fountain of Death? Enforcing the Collateral Security Clause after Great American Ins. Co. v Fountain Eng’g, Inc.,” Gulfcoast Fidelity & Surety Institute, Annual Conference, June, 2016 (Boca Grande, FL).

• “Ethical Considerations When the Insurer Finds Itself on Both Sides of a Dispute,” ABA/TIPS Spring Meeting Panel Moderator, May, 2016 (Atlanta GA).

• “Takeover: From Default through Project Completion,” Fidelity and Surety Law Committee Program Co-Chair, May, 2016 (Palm Springs, CA).

• “Changes to Bond Forms, Admissibility and Reformation,” Fidelity and Surety Law Committee’s Mid-Winter Meeting, January, 2015 (New York, NY).

• “Commercial Crime in the 21^st Century: From Inception through Salvage,” Program Co-Chair, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee’s Mid-Winter Meeting, January, 2013 (New York, NY).

• Frequent author and/or speaker regarding current topics affecting the construction and surety industries.

Community Involvement

• The Tampa Banking Company, and the Bank of Tampa
  • Board of Directors (2017 to present)
• Palma Ceia Golf & Country Club
  • Board of Directors (2020-2023)
• Berkeley Preparatory School
• Board of Trustees (1999 to 2013; 2015 to 2018)
• Chairman (2009-2011)
• Alumni Association President (1999-2001)
• The University Club of Tampa
• Board of Directors (2002-2014)
• President (2010-11)
• H.B. Plant Museum Board of Trustees (2014-2020)

Representative Experience

In his construction and surety practice, Brett has represents owners, contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers and sureties.  Brett’s representation has involved garden-variety construction claims as well as contract and commercial surety claims. These claims have dealt with disputes on public and private projects of varying types including apartment and condominium complexes, office buildings, electrical power plants, wastewater treatment plants, reservoirs, military facilities, subaqueous sewer pipelines, seawall failures, United States Corps of Engineers projects, hospitals, public roadwork and schools. These disputes have involved technical constructability, scheduling, design, and payment issues, and have ranged in size from thousands of dollars to hundreds of million dollars. Brett handles surety matters throughout the United States and internationally, and has handled construction projects located throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and in the Republic of Panama.

Brett has also handled claims against indemnitors to recover losses suffered by the surety, and claims involving allegations of insurer bad faith and unfair claims settlement practices.

Brett has handled a variety of fidelity matters including claims involving employee dishonesty, employee theft and other commercial crime claims, claims against Banker’s Blanket Bonds, and claims against Financial Institution Bonds.  In this practice, Brett has been involved in both the investigation and litigation into the validity of the claims as well as litigating policy or bond exclusions and other coverage defenses.

Finally, Brett serves as a mediator and arbitrator in a wide range of civil matters.